"I like using bigger plugs to target the bigger fish instead of using smaller plugs to land fish in quantity; it's all about the quality of the fish," said Portocarrero. "One thing that I have noticed fishing on Lake Shasta is that the fish are much bigger than in past years."

After trolling near the dam for about an hour, Kirk decided to have us reel in the lines and move across the lake. "There's a fish on the end of the line," said Portocarrero, "and we may have had it on for some time now." The first salmon I landed weighed 1 pound and was caught trolling in 70 feet of water near the face of the dam

When we had all the lines in, Kirk decided to move to the Big Back Bone area. "I like to target Big Back Bone due to the size of the fish in this area; the fish in this area have much fatter bellies," explained Portocarrero. Kirk started to jet over to Big Back Bone in his 23 foot, custom built, Fish Rite Jet Boat powered by a trusty 502 chevy motor.

As we began trolling Big Back Bone, I could see large schools of fish on the graph. "There is a large concentration of fish 60 to 70 feet down," he noted. "We're looking to find where the shad are at. As soon as we do, we will start hooking into some large, quality fish."

By 10:00 am the bite had begun to turn on in small area of Big Back Bone, and I hooked into a 1-1/2 pound chinook salmon while trolling a shad pattern lure at 64 feet.

After losing a few fish near the boat, Kirk decided to change his single hook lures to trebles. "The key to landing these fish is to keep the pressure on the rod. Any slack given to the fish will make the hook pop out of the fish's mouth," said Portocarrero.

A half hour later while trolling 60 feet down, Kirk landed a 2 pound salmon, also while trolling a shad pattern lure with flashers on a downrigger ball. One hour later, at 11:30 a.m. while trolling at 58 feet, I hooked a 2-1/2 pound king. As soon as we got the line back in the water, my rod's line snapped off the downrigger and I landed a hefty 4 pound king salmon as Kirk netted.

As the bite began to slow and the wind and rain began to hit hard, Kirk and I had a double hook up. Kirk landed a 4 pound king salmon that I netted. With a fish still in the net, Kirk leaned over the back of his boat to bring in a 3 pound salmon by hand.

After some high fives for a job well done, Kirk and I relaxed in hope of another double hook up. "That was exciting," I exclaimed. "It sure was difficult landing those fish in this horrible weather, especially with no net."

The relaxation didn't last long; within 20 minutes we had another fish on the line. It was a 4 pound king caught trolling in 64 feet of water on a shad pattern lure. As the weather began to worsen and the bite tapered off, Kirk and I decided to call it a day.

Kirk Portocarrero books fishing trips year round, with the exception of February and March, as he is involved in the sport shows. Kirk fishes on the Feather River one month out of the year for spring chinooks.

From July thru January, Kirk fishes for king salmon and rainbow trout on the Sacramento River in his 21 foot custom Fish Rite Jet Boat. During the months of April to June, Kirk fishes on Lake Shasta for king salmon and trout.